Dr. Alexandru Manafu
alexman@yorku.ca

Office hours: Students will be able to book meetings with the course director, as needed. More information about office hours will be made available on eClass.

An introduction to metaphysical theories about the relationship between the mind and the body. We examine Descartes' mind-body dualism as well as 20th century theories including: behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, etc.

Pete Mandik, This is Philosophy of Mind, Wiley & Sons, 2^nd edition, 2022.        ISBN: 978-1-119-71883-3    OR     ISBN: 978-1-119-71888-8

Available for free in electronic format, through the YorkU library: https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_proquest_ebookcentral_EBC7103864

Available in paperback format from YorkU bookstore, price TBD

Available as ebook, for $17.99 https://www.wiley.com/en-ca/This+Is+Philosophy+of+Mind%3A+An+Introduction%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781119718833

10% Ten reflection pieces, 1% each, see more information below.

30% Tutorial participation

60% Two essays, 30% each.

Before each lecture following the first one, you will have the opportunity to submit a personal reflection (250-500 words) based on the reading for the week. You are free to approach your reflections as you like, but here are some possible questions to consider: What do you think of the ideas or arguments presented in the reading? How did they intersect with your own intuitions, experiences, or questions about the mind? What struck you as persuasive, puzzling, or even unsettling? Did the reading surprise you in any way, or challenged your assumptions? Well-written reflections treat the readings as food for thought, and foster personal engagement with the material. Please do not use AI for the reflections, as not only this would be missing the point, but it would be not allowed.

Good or great reflections = 1%. Mediocre = 0.5%. Superficial = 0%.

NOTE: The grading scheme above will be respected strictly. For ethical reasons, I do not revise the students’ grades, nor do I allow students to do extra work to boost their marks.

Late/missed assignments policy:

As a general rule, I do not accept late submissions, nor do I provide extensions to the deadlines. For late essay submissions, a 5% penalty of the value of the essay/day will be applied. A reflection for a given week must be submitted before that week’s lecture. Late or retroactive reflections will not be accepted. In case of a health crisis/medical emergency, a doctor’s note must be submitted before the deadline. No retroactive doctor’s notes will be accepted.

Details about the assignments will be announced in class in due time, and it will be posted on eClass. It is your responsibility to read them as soon as they become available. Check eClass frequently for updates.

All assignments will be submitted electronically, through eClass, and they will be subjected to a Turnitin plagiarism check.

ANY ASSIGNMENT WITH A TURNITIN PLAGIARISM SCORE ABOVE 15% WILL BE INVESTIGATED. Depending on the case, the assignment will incur a penalty and/or the Course Director together with the Undergraduate Program Director will open a formal AH (academic honesty) case. Following the investigation of your assignment, any point above a 15% Turnitin score will be translated into 5% penalty. For example, an assignment with a Turnitin score of 17% will incur a penalty of 10%, so that the new maximum grade for this assignment will be 90%. As a result of the AH case that will be opened you risk EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY.

If your assignment has a Turnitin score of 15% or more you can revise your assignment and resubmit it, as long as the deadline has not yet passed. Note that the Turnitin system does not generate your similarity scores instantly; sometimes, at least 24 or 48 hours are needed. Therefore, if you want to check your similarity report and then revise and resubmit your essay, the initial submission should be done at least 48 hours before the deadline.

The Turnitin report on the use of AI in your essay will be treated separately. In case you have chosen Option 1 (write your essay without AI assistance, see Course Policy on AI below) and Turnitin detects that you have indeed used AI, your essay will be investigated. Given enough evidence, this may result in the Course Director together with the Undergraduate Program Director opening a formal AH (academic honesty) case and you risk expulsion from the university.

In-person lectures and in-person tutorials

By the end of this course, students will:

• Be able to summarize, analyze, compare and engage critically with the various theories and concepts in the philosophy of mind;
• Parse and evaluate complex arguments;
• Be able to formulate your own views about the nature of the mind and defend them with cogent arguments.

Course Policy on AI

You are welcome to use AI tools judiciously throughout the course to help you better understand the material. This includes:

• Reading Support: Use AI to work your way through textbook chapters, articles, or assigned readings.
• Concept Clarification: Ask AI to help you understand theories, definitions, or complex ideas.
• Class Preparation: Use AI to generate questions, explore discussion topics, or clarify readings.
• Peer Conversations: Use AI to help you prepare for or reflect on conversations with classmates.
• Study Aid: Use AI to quiz yourself, brainstorm study strategies, or organize your notes.
• Explore and Play: Philosophy is full of wild ideas and thought experiments. Feel free to chat with AI to explore imaginative scenarios, test out strange hypotheses, or just have fun thinking deeply and creatively.

Important: These uses are allowed only for learning and preparation. For the reflections you are not allowed to use AI, as this would be missing the point.

When it comes to writing the essays you must follow the specific guidelines below.

You have two options for completing your essay:

Option 1 – Without AI assistance
You will write your essay entirely on your own, without the use of AI tools.

Option 2 – With AI assistance
If you choose to use AI tools at any stage of your writing process, you must include an addendum (added section at the end of your essay). There is no length requirement for the addendum, and it does not contribute to your essay wordcount. This addendum should describe:

• which AI tools you used
• at what stage(s) of the process you used them
• for what purpose, what were the problems that AI helped you solve
• how you used them (including key prompts)
• in which parts of your essay you used AI and for what
• how they contributed to your work
• the limitations or shortcomings that you’ve perceived in working with them

To create your addendum, please refer to the table below, which specifies (some of) the actions associated with different levels of AI use in your essay. Your addendum must be honest, revealing, comprehensive, informative, well-structured. It will be evaluated as part of your submission and will influence your essay mark.

Levels of AI use in essay writing:

How much AI are you allowed to use in your essay? It’s a spectrum: from Level 1 (Superficial) which is absolutely OK, to Level 5 (Ghostwriting) which is absolutely NOT OK. The higher the level of AI use, the less authorship you can claim over your essay.

The greater your reliance on AI, the higher the expectations will be for the scholarly rigor, originality, and critical engagement demonstrated in your essay.

You are permitted to use generative AI tools for your essays in this course, but you must accurately declare any such use. Falsely stating that you did not use AI when you did constitutes a misrepresentation that may violate York University’s Senate Policy on Academic Honesty, which forbids falsely claiming credit for ideas or work not authentically your own and defines such misrepresentation as a form of cheating or plagiarism (Senate ASC Statement on Academic Integrity and AI Technology). To fulfill your obligations under this policy, the use of AI must be transparently disclosed on the first page of your submission (under wordcount). Please also consult York’s comprehensive Academic Conduct Policy and Procedures, which further elaborates on breaches of academic integrity and associated sanctions.